Beginning the week of Aug. 18, the Estes Park Police Department 800MHz radio channels used to conduct public safety operations will be encrypted. They will become inaccessible for members of the public who follow police operations using scanners. This change is in line with a county-wide effort of law enforcement agencies to protect public and officer safety and to protect the privacy rights of the individuals with whom law enforcement officials come into contact.

"The Estes Park Police Department's reason for making this change is not to take away access to the police department and our officers, but to uphold our responsibilities to the citizens and our fellow officers, to keep them safe and protect their rights," said Estes Park police chief Wes Kufeld. "Radio waves have been open in the past but that doesn't mean it was a best practice for public safety. Today's technology means anyone in the world with an Internet connection can tune in and gather another citizen's personal information that would be confidential in any other situation. It would be irresponsible of us to forego this opportunity to protect our residents and guests."

Advertisement

Radio encryption is considered a best practice among law enforcement agencies nationwide. The Estes Park Police Department's 800 MHz radio encryption will not affect its ability to communicate with other emergency services agencies.

Officials say the purpose of radio encryption is twofold. First, to protect citizens' rights to privacy. Personal information shared over radio frequencies by officers and dispatchers would not be available to the general public under any other circumstances, and can even result in identity theft. Second, when police operations information, such as the officer's location in pursuit of a crime suspect, is available to everyone, both officer and public safety can be at risk. In addition, the officers' ability to apprehend a suspect may be jeopardized.

Chief Kufeld elaborated on this.

"If we pull someone over for a minor traffic violation and share his or her name, date of birth and address over the radio, we don't think that information should be shared with anyone in the world who may be listening to the scanner," he said. " If we are en route to the home of a potentially violent barricaded suspect, we absolutely do not want the suspect to know the exact location and tactics of the responding officers. If we are pursuing someone who burglarized a downtown store, we don't want that suspect to learn that and flee as we are closing in on his or her location. If we're checking on an outstanding warrant and need to confirm with a social security number, that absolutely should not be shared with everyone who happens to be listening to a scanner."

Former Estes Park trustee Mark Elrod has reached out to the current board, asking them to reconsider the move to encrypt police broadcasts. He said he is troubled by the move because that is not the way he believes Estes Park operates.

"What is troubling is that this is not the way Estes Park operates," he said. "Reference is made to this being a county wide effort. How often have we heard from the Estes Park public that just because some other areas of Colorado are doing something does not mean that it is something our community will embrace."

Elrod is also troubled with the argument that the encryption is part of the department's responsibility to protect a citizen's privacy.

"I feel this should not be the first reason for this action," he said. "Clearly the federal and state freedom of information demands public access to public records. Some may argue that access to such information is not compromised due to the various laws allowing for the production of that information upon request. While law enforcement has the ability to withhold information if vital to an on going investigation. However, there is the issue of the immediacy of that information if encrypted and the transparency it prohibits. There is still the option of passing sensitive information between law enforcement officers via mobile computers and smart phones, which I believe each of our patrol officers have access to."

Elrod said community leaders need to take time to analyze the "problem" before implementing any action.

Estes Park public information officer Kate Rusch explained that there are procedures currently in place to provide the public with immediate information during a crisis.

"When there's an emergency in or affecting our jurisdiction, notifications and updates are provided by the town through a wide variety of sources including social media, town email subscriber lists, our website, LETA911 emergency notifications, a recorded information line and if needed, a call center, community meetings, posted updates in public locations, and more," she said. "The town's also working to establish an emergency AM radio station as well. We understand some people rely on their scanners, but it's important to remember the information aired over radio via scanners is not reliable public information vetted through incident command -- it can change or be misunderstood when heard out of context. Sharing it as public information can cause confusion and make the jobs of emergency responders more difficult. So, it should never replace official agency public updates and notifications."